godfather of surgery

Chapter 1351 Dr. Li is so amazing

Zhou Daping and several villagers sat on a bench outside the operating room, silent. Their hands and clothes were still stained with blood, but no one thought to wash them. They simply stared at the red indicator light on the operating room door, like drowning people staring at a lighthouse on the sea.

Zhou Daping's left arm was already bandaged, the white gauze standing out starkly against the dusty gray sleeve. He had forgotten the pain. His mind was filled with the two words Li Min had just uttered.

Open the chest!
Zhou Fusheng, 53, from Chalu Village, has driven a farm vehicle his entire life, delivering fertilizer in the spring, hauling rice in the autumn, and doing transport work during the off-season. His wife passed away ten years ago, and he raised his son alone, sending him to high school in the county town where he excelled academically and will be taking the college entrance exam next year.

He is now lying on the operating table, his chest cavity open, his heart exposed under the operating lights.

Zhou Daping dared not think any further.

In the operating room, Li Min stood in the surgeon's position.

This was his first time performing surgery in the laminar flow operating room of Guandu Hospital. The cold, bright light of the operating lights shone on Zhou Fusheng's pale, open chest wall, and also on his hands clad in sterile gloves. The scrub nurse stood to his right, the circulating nurse to his left and behind, and the anesthesiologist stared at the fluctuating numbers on the monitor. Everyone was watching him.

He recalled his first day at the Sanbo Institute three years ago. Yang Ping showed him around the operating room, stopping in front of a huge glass window and pointing to a heart bypass surgery being performed inside.

“Township health centers don’t need to perform heart surgery,” Yang Ping said, “but you have to know how to handle emergency open-chest surgery.”

Li Min asked at the time, "Can I learn it?"

Yang Ping glanced at him.

He said, "Of course you can learn it!"

At this moment, Li Min held a scalpel, the blade hovering above Zhou Fusheng's sternum.

The knife falls!

A central incision was made in the sternum, a chainsaw cut through the sternum, and a retractor was used to open it. The pericardium had been cut open, and the dark red blood was slowly drained away with a suction device. The heart was exposed, still beating, but weakly and erratically, like a bird trapped in a net.

Li Min's gaze searched the surface of the heart. On the anterior wall of the right ventricle, near the left anterior descending branch, there was a tear less than two centimeters long, slowly oozing blood with each heartbeat.

found it!
He began to suture.

This was the movement Li Min had practiced the most times. In Sanbo's simulated operating room, he had stitched no less than ten thousand stitches on a pig's heart. From his initial clumsiness and unfamiliarity, he could later complete a perfect suture with a pad in thirty seconds. Yang Ping never said "not bad" or "very good," only nodding after observing him once.

That's already the best evaluation.

Later, I was fortunate enough to have a real heart stitched up in the emergency department.

At this moment, under the operating light, his fingers guided the needle and thread through the heart muscle, once, twice, three times, tying a knot, cutting the thread.

The bleeding has stopped.

心电监护仪上，那条紊乱的曲线开始变得规律。血压从75/40缓慢爬升到90/55。血氧饱和度从88%升到94%。

Li Min straightened up, covered the surgical area with a damp gauze and a sterile drape, glanced at the monitor, and saw that the vital signs had stabilized and were no longer declining.

He breathed a sigh of relief: "You guys stay with him. Call me if anything happens, I'll go to the operating room next door."

In the operating room next door, the former hospital director had already disinfected and draped Chen Dongxiu.

Li Min changed into his surgical gown and gloves, and the old hospital director stepped aside to make way for the chief surgeon, standing next to the first assistant.

……

Zhou Daping and several villagers waited outside the operating room. He did not sit down and paced back and forth outside the operating room.

"Zhou Daping!"

Zhou Daping turned his head and saw that the two Zhangs were rushing over with several people.

"What's going on? What are you doing here?" The township head was both surprised and angry. They should get the wounded to the county as soon as possible.

Zhou Daping wiped his brow: "They're all inside undergoing surgery."

The township head didn't react for a moment, paused, and asked, "Surgery here? Didn't you say you were badly injured and about to die?"

“Yes, this…that…” Zhou Daping didn’t know how to explain.

The township head was furious. "Zhou Daping! Zhou Daping! What a fool..."

"Zhou Daping, what have you done? What kind of mess have you made..."

Human life is at stake, and time is of the essence. The township head couldn't criticize Zhou Daping right now. He was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, patting his head as his mind raced.

He immediately picked up the phone and called the county for help. A moment later, the county officials replied: "We contacted the county hospital, and they said it would be too dangerous to send him there now, as the patient is ill at home due to the bumpy ride. The hospital will send a team to provide support immediately."

It seems this is the best solution. After hanging up the phone, the township head glared at Zhou Daping: "I'll settle accounts with you later. Such a seriously injured person, and you put him in a township hospital for surgery? Are you kidding me? Don't you know the seriousness of the situation? You don't value human life."

Zhou Daping felt uneasy under the township head's glare. Just as he was about to explain, the township head went to answer the phone again.

"Director Zhang, yes, yes, this is Liang Jianguo. I'm currently at Guandu Hospital. I'm not entirely sure of the situation, but I know it's very serious. I'll have the doctor report to you..." Mayor Liang looked around but didn't see a single doctor.

"Zhou Daping, where's the doctor? Find a doctor to report the patient's condition to Director Zhang. Director Zhang from the county hospital is on his way with some people..."

Where's the doctor? Yes!
"doctor……"

Zhou Daping was so confused by the township head's actions that he lost his composure.

There are only about twenty doctors in Guandu Town right now, and they've all gone to participate in the rescue efforts. There aren't any doctors left to wander around nearby.

"Bullshit!"

Township Head Liang could only reply, "Director Zhang, all the doctors are currently focused on the emergency treatment..."

"Understood, we're already on the bus, we'll talk more when we get here."

Director Zhang Anyun was a sensible man. He didn't waste any words or ramble on. He was going anyway, so he decided to go and see what happened. He took an anesthesiologist, an instrument nurse, and two assistants. The four of them got into the hospital's ambulance, which contained various types of blood products, mostly type O, and hurriedly set off.

……

Li Min stood by the operating table, quickly opened the abdominal cavity, and blood gushed out, blurring the vision.

With a combination of suction and pressure, in a brief moment of clear vision, he discovered a diagonal tear in the upper pole of the spleen, still oozing blood; there were three lacerations on the outer edge of the left lobe of the liver, fortunately not deep. He took a deep breath.

This type of surgery is the most suitable for him; he has performed many of these surgeries at Sanbo Hospital.

"The splenic pedicle is free; first, sever the splenic artery."

He plans to have his spleen removed.

The old hospital director followed with his hemostat; with forty years of experience, he could still be a good assistant.

Separate, ligate, cut. The moment the splenic artery stops pulsating, the spleen deflates like a punctured balloon, and the bleeding immediately decreases by more than half. Completely removed, the spleen is taken out, and the abdominal cavity is temporarily cleared.

But my blood pressure is still dropping.

Li Min's gaze swept over the liver. The several lacerations were expanding at a visible rate, and the blood around the liver was rapidly recombining.

"Liver repair, 4-0 Propranolol!"

The old dean's hand trembled slightly as he handed over the needle.

Suture, tie, sew, tie. Li Min's fingers guided the needle and thread, tracing the soft surface of the liver tissue like an embroiderer stitching on silk. Three tears, seven figure-eight sutures, and the bleeding stopped.

Rinse with warm saline solution, examine the wound to confirm there is no active bleeding, and place a drainage tube in the spleen fossa.

"Close the abdomen!" Li Min straightened up, sweat dripping from his forehead into the edge of his sterile cap.

The old dean took the needle holder.

“You go,” he said. “I’ll handle the rest here.”

Having worked in surgery for forty years, the old hospital director was still confident in finishing the abdominal surgery. Li Min returned to the first operating room, opened the cover, and began closing the chest.

The sternum was aligned, secured with wire, muscles were sutured layer by layer, subcutaneous tissue was aligned, and intradermal sutures were performed continuously. Thirty minutes later, the numbers on the monitor remained stable.

The anesthesiologist said softly, "You can send him to the recovery room now."

The anesthesiologist's back was completely soaked. He had never seen anything like this before, nor had he ever been involved in a surgery like this. He had just gone through the ordeal entirely under Li Min's guidance, gritting his teeth and doing it.

Li Min stood by the operating table, helping to gently transfer Zhou Fusheng to the bed, watching his chest rise and fall evenly with the aid of the ventilator. His ashen face regained color, and his tightly furrowed brows relaxed.

After these two surgeries were completed, they were immediately transferred to the ward.

The operating room was emptied, and Li Min then performed two surgeries, one on Xu Dehou and the other on Zhao Qiulin.

The operating room was quickly cleaned, and Xu Dehou was brought in and laid on the table. The side of his chest that had collapsed had been temporarily stabilized, and he was still struggling to breathe. A bedside ultrasound showed that a significant amount of blood had accumulated in his chest cavity again.

Li Min quickly reviewed the newly released CT images: fractures of the 3rd to 7th ribs on the right side, with significant misalignment of the 4th and 5th ribs, which punctured the parietal pleura, and two contusions and lacerations on the surface of the lung.

Open the chest!
There is nothing to say about this.

Li Min moved extremely quickly, opening the chest cavity and slowly sucking away the accumulated blood, revealing the two lacerations on the surface of the lungs that were still slowly bleeding. He used electrocoagulation to stop the bleeding, repositioned the broken ribs, threaded a steel wire through, and tightened it.

The anesthesiologist reported the vital signs: "Blood pressure is stable, blood oxygen is 99%."

He put down the needle holder and watched as the lungs on the screen reopened under the anesthesiologist's pumping, looking pink and full.

The patient next door only has a fracture; the old hospital director could have treated that first.

Li Min was in no hurry and completed Xu Dehou's chest-sealing and drainage placement.

"Dr. Li, everything is ready on Zhao Qiulin's side. The old hospital director has already laid out the sheets and is just waiting for you."

Next door, Zhao Qiulin lay on the table, his open fracture of his left thigh had been cleaned, and the wound was covered with sterile dressing. The former hospital director stood in the first assistant's position, and the scrub nurse had already prepared the plate and screws.

Li Min changed into a new surgical gown and took his place as the surgeon.

An open femoral fracture, Gustilo type IIIA. This type of injury is not the most difficult in a provincial tertiary hospital, but in a township health center, it is a surgery that can make any surgeon's palms sweat.

He picked up the bone forceps.

Reset, temporary fixation, fluoroscopy. Steel plate shaping, fitting, drilling, depth measurement, tapping, screw insertion.

He did it quickly and steadily.

The new C-arm X-ray machine was used for the first time, and the doctors below the stage completed intraoperative fluoroscopy under Li Min's full command.

The last screw was tightened, and fluoroscopy showed satisfactory fracture alignment and the plate was in good position. Irrigation, drainage, and layer-by-layer suturing were then performed.

Li Min put down the needle holder.

"Observe for fifteen minutes. If there are no problems, you can be sent to the ward," he said.

He walked out of the operating room and leaned against the wall in the corridor.

Four surgeries, from the time he was admitted to the emergency room, took three hours and seventeen minutes. His surgical gown was soaked with sweat, clinging to his back and feeling cool. His hands were still trembling slightly, not from nervousness, but from muscle memory. The feeling of the suture needle piercing the heart muscle still lingered in his fingertips.

The former hospital director followed him out of the operating room, looked at him, and said nothing.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Li Min asked.

The old dean remained silent. He reached out and straightened Li Min's surgical cap, which had been askew.

"Let's go check out the resuscitation room."

Post-operative patients are all placed here for centralized care, which is safer than sending them to wards.

They arrived at the resuscitation room, where the two most seriously injured patients, Zhou Fusheng and Chen Dongxiu, were now in stable condition.

They were still waiting outside. Only then did the old hospital director remember that Zhou Daping and the villagers were waiting outside the operating room.

"Send them all back to their wards. Make sure they receive blood transfusions and IV fluids. I'll be there myself," Li Min instructed the doctor.

The operating room door opened.

The township head immediately came forward, shaking the old dean's hand, his voice trembling:

"Dean Li, how are the injured? The county hospital said they've sent the head of surgery with a team to provide support; the vehicle is almost here!"

The old dean turned slightly to the side.

The township head saw Li Min standing next to him and paused for a second.

"Dr. Li? What's wrong with you...?"

"The surgeries are all done!" The old hospital director's voice was calm. "Four surgeries, all performed by Dr. Li. Zhou Fusheng's heart repair, Chen Dongxiu's spleen removal and liver repair, Xu Dehou's thoracic exploration, lung repair, and rib fixation, and Zhao Qiulin's open reduction and internal fixation of the femur. All patients are stable and will be wheeled out to their wards immediately."

The township head opened his mouth, as if he hadn't understood.

"...Are you done?"

The old dean didn't repeat himself; he just stood there, looking at the incredulous expressions on the faces of the township head and Zhou Daping.

As soon as Zhou Daping saw the operating room door open, he practically jumped up. He rushed to the door, but the township head spoke first. He listened from the side, and now it was his turn to speak.

"The surgery went smoothly," he said. "Zhou Fusheng's cardiac tamponade has been relieved, and the myocardial laceration has been repaired. The next 48 hours are critical, and he needs close monitoring. If he can overcome the infection and cardiac function recovery hurdles, he should be fine. The others have all been saved..."

Zhou Daping stared blankly at him, just like the township head, as if he hadn't understood.

“Dr. Li,” his voice was weak, “you mean… Zhou Fusheng and the others…”

"He's been saved," Li Min said.

Zhou Daping's knees buckled, and he almost knelt down. Two villagers nearby quickly caught him, and he kept muttering, "He's saved...he's saved..."

Then he suddenly raised his head and looked at him with a gaze that Li Min had never seen before. In that gaze were surprise, awe, and an almost unfamiliar, reverent worship.

“Dr. Li,” his voice changed, “what is this… what is this…”

He was unable to speak.

He didn't know what to say. He didn't know what the Sanbo Research Institute was, who Yang Ping was, or how many surgeries Li Min had performed, how many sleepless nights he had spent, or how many stitches he had put in there. All he knew was that just two hours earlier, he had watched as a dying man was forcibly dragged back from the brink of death.

Right here in Guandu, right here in this new hospital that they personally welcomed upon its completion, yet which they have never truly trusted.

“Dr. Li,” he finally found his voice, “you are even more capable than the specialists at the county hospital.”

“Secretary Zhou,” he said, “please don’t say that. The experts at the county hospital are more experienced than I am. I just happened to have studied this type of surgery during my advanced training.”

Zhou Daping shook his head, stubborn as a headstrong child:

"All I know is that you saved him on the operating table, and that Guandu Hospital saved him."

His voice was loud, and the villagers who gradually gathered in the corridor heard him. No one spoke, but the way they looked at Li Min was different from before.

In the past, they viewed Li Min with familiarity, trust, and affection. He was the Dr. Li who had treated patients for ten years, knew everyone's chronic ailments, and never prescribed expensive or unnecessary medications.

At this moment, they still see Li Min as familiar, trustworthy, and kind.

But there's one more thing.

It was an almost instinctive, simple act of looking up. Like a mountain dweller looking up at a mountain peak that still stands tall after crossing eighteen mountain ridges.

They never knew that Dr. Li, who had lived in the town for ten years, could be this kind of person.